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Nestle Claims Designer Sugar Cuts Content by 40%, Taste Unchanged

UnitedHealth Group, hit by more than $1 billion in losses providing coverage to uninsured Americans on public exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, is turning the page on Obamacare thanks to robust growth in its Optum unit, the company’s third quarter earnings indicate.

The nation’s largest health insurer, which is scaling back its Obamacare public exchange offerings to just three states where it hopes to make a profit, said third quarter revenues rose 12% to $46.3 billion. Profits jumped 23% to $1.98 billion, or $2.03 a share.

UnitedHealth continues to see impressive growth from its Optum unit, which includes a pharmacy benefit manager, technology services to doctors and hospitals and a fast-growing business providing outpatient care through urgent care centers and doctor practices it owns.

Thanks to Optum and UnitedHealth’s insurance lines, the company is raising its 2016 adjusted earnings to about $8.00 a share. That compares to a previous adjusted net earnings of $7.80 to $7.95 per share.

As one example of Optum's growth, Quest Diagnostics has tapped the company’s Optum360 business to help manage revenue for everything from doctor lab and billing orders to “cash collections from health plans, payers and consumers,” Larry Renfro, Optum CEO and UnitedHealth vice chairman told Wall Street analysts on the company’s third quarter earnings call Tuesday.

Optum360 has more than 400 health facility clients. “ The number of facilities using our computerized documentation technology has doubled in the past year, to more than 125,” Renfro said.

UnitedHealth’s insurance businesses are also growing across its three major medical benefit lines, adding more than two million people as enrollees. Revenue in these businesses -- which includes individual and employer coverage, Medicare and Medicaid plans – rose 13 percent to $37.2 billion.